Shaving implement



Dec 8, 1942- l J. A. HANLEY l l2,304,567

l 'sHAvING IMPLEMENT l Filed May a, 1941 E EauzE-el enf'. :Incense ena Patented Ecc. 8, 1942 John A.

lette Safety Hanley, Noroto'n, Conn.,assignor to Gil- Razor Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Application May 8, 1941, Serial No. 392,438

Claims.

The present invention comprises a novel shaving implement which, if desired, may be carried in the pocket of the user and used for shaving without lather or other preparation, or' for cleaning up the face during the day as a supplement to a more extended shaving operation.` The invention is herein shown as embodied in an implement having a sharp stationary blade or blades and a co-operating roller movable by frictional engagement with the face and provided'with hair-receiving openings arranged to pick-up and support the individual hairs as they are presented to the sharp edged blade. Dry shaving with a sharp edged blade is almost unbearable for most users on account of the pulling action of the blade in severing an un-suppoited hair. In accordance with the present invention, however, each hair to be severed is entered in an aperture of the roller and the implement as a whole is moved to bring the hair into cutting relation with the blade while the outer portion thereof is supported by extending into one of the roller openings. In this way pulling is avoided and a comfortable shaving operation insured.

With these ends in view, important features of my invention consist in means for securely and accuratelyV supporting one or more blades with their sharp edges resting upon the-outer surface of an apertured roller at an angle to` the plane of tangency; in providing spring-operating clamps for removably holding the blades in posit'i'om-,in providing means for preventing accidental 'releasing of the blade clamps, and in providing a novel form of ring bearing for the roller which simplifies the construction of the implement and reduces friction therein.

An important feature of the invention consists. in a curved cutter plate, in this case taking the form of a roller, which directly engages the face of the user and then passes downwardly or lnwardly beneath an external cutting blade which is also engaged by the face. This novel combination of cutting elements results in very close shaving action-much closer than in those irnplei'nents where the cutting action takes place at the inner face of a cutter plate through which-"thebhairs must project to reach the shearing plane."

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof. 'selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:A

Fig. l is ya view of the implement as seen from above and on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 2 is a View in elevation of one form of roller;

Fig. 3 is a view of the implement as seen from one end, a portion of the frame being broken away;

Fig. 4 is a corresponding view in elevation;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a roller and a mounting of an alternative form Fig. 6 is a central sectional view corresponding to Fig. 5.

The implement in the form herein illustrated comprises a one-piece frame I0, rectangular in outline and having a deep central longitudinal recess forming spaced blade-supporting walls at either side. The frame l0 may be formed of wood or moulded from suitable plastic material. The blade-supporting walls which extend'along both sides of the frame are shaped at their upper edges to provide inwardly and upwardly inclined blade seats. As shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4 an elongated hollow roller i2 is journalled to rotate .freely upon or with a shaft 23 in the recess of the frame between these blade seats. At both ends the roller vis provided with circular apertured beads through which project the shaft 23. The roller l2 may be constructed of thin sheet steel and is provided with a multiplicity of small openings or apertures l2 in its cylindrical surface. These apertures are designed to receive the individual hairs or stubble on the face of the user as the implement is moved and the roller rotated by f rictional engagement with the surface being shaved.

The implement is provided with a handle i4 which as herein shown may be formed from sheet steel and comprises two downwardly extending branches bent from opposite sides of a base plate l5 secured by screws or otherwise to the bottom of the frame I0. The base plate is bent upwardly at both ends and shaped to provide tapering end plates I6 serving to hold the roller i2 in place against endwise movement. As herein shown the blade seats present the blades to the roller at an angle of about 22 to a tangent plane at the line of blade contact, or at an angle greater than to a radius to the line of contact. As shown in Fig. 3 the ends of the rollerare perforated to permit the escape of shaving debris and these end perforations are arranged so as partially `to clear the stationary v end plates I6 which supply bearing for the shaft 23.

A pair of straight narrow blades Il are retained upon the blade seats by clamps i8. 'I'hese clamps are formed of sheet metal and each includes an upper portion which overlies the blade, a pair of ears I8 by which the clamp as a whole is pivoted to the frame and downturned lugs or ears 2i] which embrace ends of the blade Il and prevent endwise movement thereof. The clamps i8 are reduced in width at their lower edge and bent outwardly to provide finger pieces and against which spiral compression springs 2i are arranged to act, tending always to close the clamps. The bodies of the springs 2l are 22 which passes through a .hole in the clamp andv is threaded into the frame il?. The .head of the screw engages the outer ieee oi the clamp and prevents releasing movement ei the clamp in the screw is iirst loosened.

The shape of the openings in the roller is or" secondary importance so long as they are tive to receive the hairs projecting from of the user and to move with the hairs to the edge of the blade and so support them duru ing the cutting operation. The roller i2, is shot/"n as provided with a multiplicity of small open ings arranged in parallel rows and this represents one satisfactory construction. .a modiled roller 25 is shown in Fig. 2 wherein the openings take the form of undulating slits 2li. Numerous other forms of hair-receiving onenings may be employed within the scope or the invention.

In operation the implement is passed over the face of the user 'with a firm pressure upon the exposed cylindrical surface of the roller i2 in which sufficient traction is developed to cause turning of the roller without slipping. The hairs engaged by the openings in the roller 'thus brought to the edge of one blade or the other according to the direction or movement of.' il

implement and are supported during the sever ing operation so that a smooth shave Without pulling is effected. The implement as already intimated may be carried by the user and em-a ployed in sparev minutes to clean up the face and improve the appearance.

The roller shown in Figs. 3 and d has a per forated head in each end carrying or turning upon the transverse shaft 23. The roller i2 in Figs. 5 and 6, on the other hand, is shown as fully open at both ends and has no internal shaft. By this alternative construction the es cape of shaving debris from the implement is expedited. The open-end roller is rotatably and externally supported by semi-circular ribs it provided by countersinking the central zone of the frame IB and thus forming spaced bearings at each end vof the roller. The illustrated im-J plements are shown as having blades on both sides of the roller` l2 and, While this arrangem ment is desirable in that it permits shaving while the implement is moved in 'both directions on the face, it Would be within the scope of the invention to employ a single blade only'.

It will be observed that the blade clamps iii are independently operated, each by own spring, and therefore the pressure or" the blade edges against the roller is independently den mined and limited. Ille location and spr; g pressure of the blades are eileotive to hold the roller i2 in place upon its open ring bearings Il when this construction is employed. in both constructions the springs 22E are effective to hold the blades rmly though yieldingly ln contact with the surface of the roller and the angular shape of the clamps is such that the blades are prevented from retracting movement. The blade angle may be varied by varying the Width of the blade or the angle of the blade seatn Having thus disclosed my invention and dera scribed in detail the best embodiment thereof noiv known to ine.. I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters i?atent:

l. A shaving .implement comprising a frame, a roller mounted therein for rolling engagement with the face of the user and having hair-receiving openings in its surface, and a blade bearing longitudinally at its edge upon the outer surface of the roller.

1o A shaving implement comprising a frame'. a roller journalled in the frame and having hainreceiving openings in its suriacP and a straight-edged blade maintained in gegement with the surface or' the rol "ng he operon irnalled therein. maintained with ...of roller at an ie the tangent plane at the line of 'bl le contact.

l. .fr shaving implement frame, an apertured roller journa movement in either the face of the user them.

journalled en the lines of c 2 is for pressing the r bes compel-sting with said roller, spring pressed members acting through the blades to hold the roller in place in said bearings.

7. A shaving implement comprising a frame having a recess therein shaped to present open bearings, an apertured oller ,iournalled in said bearings. blades conos with said. roller and acting also 'to hold it in place in. said bearings, and means :for preventing longitudinal movement oi' said roller.

8. A shearing implement comprisine a frame having a rec ss for -e. rotary aperturecl roller, blades enga the roller in spaced relation to each other, spring clamps mounted in Acorresponding positions on either side of the frame whereby they may be operated simultaneously to release the blades, and positive means for preventing the accidental release of the clamps.

9. A shaving implement comprising a frame having an aper ,ured ro for tractional rotation on the face oi the user, a blade arranged to bear with its edge in fairly rigid engagement upon said roller, and a clamping device shaped to prevent the blade from backing away from the roller.

l0. A dry shaving implement comprising a head having astationary sharp-edged blade disposed in position to be engaged at its edge upon the face of the user, and a thin, perforated, cylindrical. segment of sheet steel movable in a circular path toward and beneath the edge of said stationary blade and located also to make direct engagement with the face of the user.

JOHN A.. 

